Crowdsourcing: Will it Really Shape Your Music Career?

What is Crowdsourcing?                    

“Crowdsourcing” can be defined as a sourcing model which enables individuals to gain a particular good or service through an exchange. Today, crowdsourcing is quite prominent between artists of all disciplines. Musicians, sculptors and designers connect through crowdsourcing sites where they can gain exposure as well as promotional opportunities. Naturally, there are hundreds of platforms out there where an artist can get connected but the trick is finding the two or three platforms that are actually good.  

What about Crowdfunding? 

So, now you understand crowdsourcing, hopefully you’re familiar with crowdsurfing – I’ve got one more for you: crowdfunding. Crowdfunding is often a group of people coming together to fund some business venture through small financial intakes. This could be a musician whose revenue for a show comes from ticket sales sold through a crowdsourcing platform. This brings us right back to the quintessential issue of how to choose the right connection agency to help you crowdsource.    

It all comes down to what you are looking for.

Though crowdsourcing and crowdfunding originate in the same place, focusing on one can help artists when narrowing down their options. There are organizations that have been around for years, such as Kickstarter, which are strictly for crowdfunding inquiries. This means that musicians can connect with a community of like-minded creators and build funds around their passions. Similar sites include Pledgemusic  and Patreon.   On the other hand, crowdsourcing platforms, which cater more towards a direct exchange of goods or services, can be equally effective to the artist. These connection agencies include youbloomConnect and Songkick. Rather than simply giving artists a platform, companies like youbloom play a central role in providing artists exposure and fans. Youbloom is unique as it pairs artists together, connecting the two fan bases, and broadening an artists fanbase beyond the band’s origin. Contrarily, a regular complaint among Songkick users is its lack of connection and community between artists.   At the end of the day, it’s hard to go entirely wrong with any of these hardworking crowdsourcing platforms; it all comes down to whether your art needs support or more clearly laid-out instructions and opportunities.   Josey is a content writer for youbloom as well as a member of the marketing team. She is music obsessed and a diehard Tom Petty fan. Josey currently lives outside of Los Angeles where she enjoys excessively sunny days, train adventures and organic chai (yes, Josey is high-maintenance about her chai).